Stressing the “Next Big Thing” and “Your Free Choice in Robots,” Sepro America LLC (Booth W263) is at NPE 2015 showing three new lines of robots for injection molding machines in the 800- to 5,000-ton clamping range.
“From 2012 to 2014 we had seven new robots for injection molding machines under 1,000 tons,” said Jean-Michel Renaudeau, CEO of the Sepro Group.
“These new large robots complete the transformation of the full Sepro line.”
The company demonstrated a model 7X45 5-axis robot from its premium 7X line, along with two new 3-axis lines — the S7 and Strong.
Renaudeau said the redesigned portfolio offers all-servo robots that are faster, more powerful, with longer strokes and larger payloads, as compared to previous models.
He said that the parent company, Sepro Robotique, of La Roche sur Yon, France, completed its second straight record sales year with 79.2 million euros ($86.72 million) and that at the start of 2015, it had an 8-percent backlog in orders. Back in 2009, sales were only 25.8 million euros ($28.25 million).
He noted that the Americas represent one-third of overall sales.
In November 2013 the company doubled the size of its facility near Pittsburgh, pushing the size of the building to 17,000 square feet.
“Improving market share,” was a reason for its growth, according to Jim Healy, vice president of sales and marketing.
He said the plastics industry has been bullish since 2011. It has been strong in automotive, as well as medical and packaging in the U.S. West and Southeast.
The company has added 5- and 6-axis products in all size ranges, in-mold labeling solutions, a dual-arm unit, a servo sprue picker and new user-friendly controls.
The S7 line includes three different models and are set up for 800 to 1,300 tons, 1,200 to 2,500 tons and 2,300 to 5,000 tons. They can be adapted for axial configurations and have payloads that are up to 50 percent greater than the previous models.
The 7X line is based on the mechanical platform of the S7 3-axis, but adds a 2-axis servo-driven wrist developed in partnership with Staubli Robotics. The wrist can move from 0 to 180 degrees or 0 to 270 with precision.
The Strong line extends the range of Sepro economical robots. It has 3-axis servo speed and can be used for applications that require simple pick-and-place functions and other downstream applications.
All of the new robots use Sepro's control platform that was designed for injection molding uses.
The company is exhibiting 19 robots at NPE2015, and has robots set up in the Sumitomo Demag (Booth W623), Absolute Haitian (Booth W3683), G. Pernoud North America with Billion (Booth W983), Stork (Booth W929), Maruka USA/Toyo (Booth W303) and one other unnamed exhibitor.
